Beginning of Moonlight Rising
by Darkstar631
Summary: This is the beginning of a book that I'm writing with Dark, Ice,Sun, and LightningClan.
1. Chapter 1

"Invasion from IceClan!" Quickslash yowled while tearing through the camp entrance. Sharpflower bristled in anger, "How dare they!? We just shared-!"she stopped herself. Nightstorm, looked at her, "You _what?!_" he exclaimed in anger. Immediately she wished she hadn't opened her mouth.

Darkstar interrupted, "We will deal with her, later. Nightstorm, take a couple of warriors and follow Quickslash to the battle." He jumped off of the roof of his den, and pelted into the forest. A couple of warriors that were already in camp nodded, and followed the DarkClan deputy out; Sharpflower did not join them. She hung her head, ashamed of the mistake that she had made.

The Sun was shining dimly through the tree leaves, and there was an unpleasant warm breeze. Shaking off the temptation to talk to some cat, she left the camp in the direction of the "Empty Side" of the territory. This was the least explored land of all of DarkClan's territory, because it bordered with no other Clan. There was a slight border, that was patrolled every couple of moons, but it wasn't serious. The forest that the Clan lived in was huge, and they couldn't handle all of the land. There would be no cats there, so Sharpflower took the opportunity to be alone. When she left the camp, her spine shook. With a shudder, she recalled the last time she came to this place.

No matter what season it was, _this _forest always seemed to be… colder….emptier; and the last time she was here, she felt as if she was being watched.

It had not changed; she soon felt the cooler air, and her pelt crackled with the feeling of being watched. But this time, she paid no attention. With the situation in her mind, Sharpflower began to wander, letting her mind flow between her opinions.

Sharpflower, Lightray, and Roseleaf had met a friendly IceClan patrol two days ago. The seven cats decided to take a small break and chat. Unfortunately, they wound up breaking the warrior code when they were being too friendly. DarkClan knew that IceClan was starving. The cats had looked thin when they had met, and their tempers held, so the DarkClan patrol decided to help them. _Did I do something…wrong? _She had broken the warrior code and upheld it at the same time. She had shown mercy, being more than just a member of the Clan.

A sudden jerk pulled her out of her thoughts. Panic flooded her mind when she found she was falling downward, but she calmed when she fell down a hole that wasn't deep. Dirt and dust settled around her as darkness pulled over her vision. She shook off her pelt and noticed that she could easily escape. It was a big enough hole for a whole cat to fit inside, but it wasn't deep. Sharpflower's heart was pounding from the startle, and her breathing was difficult, but through this, she noticed there was a small tunnel in front of her. It would be a difficult fit, probably used by an unusually large rabbit. But the air coming from it was cold and ancient, and it smelled of Darkness. The senior warrior thought she should report it, but then dismissed it. _Where's your sense of adventure? _she scolded herself. Taking a deep breath, she squeezed through the hole. It was darker on the other side, and it widened. She could stand fully up, now, but not see very well.

There was a solid rock wall to her left, and she had no idea how long it went. She sniffed the air; it smelled cold and evil. Something was deeply wrong with this place. She turned around, deciding to leave.

"Hello," a voice made her jump. Terrified, she whipped around, pelt fluffing up. A cat was in front of her, but it was too dark to make out any of his features. She was too stunned to speak. A head tilted. "You don't look familiar," he said.

"H-h-hel-l-oo," she stammered, "W-w-ho- ar-r-re you?" She slunk slowly to the ground.

"I was the beginning," he responded, "But I have forgotten. I have been forgotten." He paused, "Do you know The Darkness?" The question made Sharpflower stop breathing. The_,_ _The Darkness? _

"The Darknesssssss?" she almost lost control of the phrase, "I am his mother."

"Oh!" the cat exclaimed, "I have not introduced myself. My name is Fallen." Suddenly, there was a very loud rumbling sound from everywhere. The cat's indistinguishable head looked around calmly, while Sharpflower's was whipping around. There was shaking everywhere, the warrior didn't know if she would fall over or not. Terror gripped her heart as she was going to ask what was happening, but Fallen cut her off, "The Sun must be going down," he murmured half to himself, and then the flash of his eyes turned towards her, "You should leave." And he turned and walked deeper into the cave, blending in with the darkness. Panicked, she turned around and squeezed through the hole she came in, but the other side was dark as if the hole she dropped through was covered up. For a heartbeat, she just stayed still in fear. _StarClan help me! _

As she finished the thought, the rumbling became worse, and the dirt covering the world above exploded down towards her. Small flicks of daylight came through the explosion as teeth grabbed her scruff and hauled her out of the hole.

"What were you doing down there?" Darkstar's angry voice was heard above. But when she was completely out of the hole, there was no one around her.

The forest was quiet, and empty. She whipped around, looking for her son.

Nothing; had she just imagined that?

Terrified even more, she raced back to camp.


	2. Chapter 2

Fireslash hung his head in disappointment. _Not every cat can go to the Gathering, _he reminded himself. But the senior warrior was especially looking forward to this one. Darkstar had chosen more apprentices this time, which was unusual for him, but it didn't matter nonetheless.

The cool nighttime breeze only supported the dread that he was feeling, through the soft moonlight in the clear black sky. Shadowfur gave him a farewell nod as she was the last cat to disappear behind the bramble entrance.

He sulked all the way to the warrior den, where Quickslash was pretending to sleep. Fireslash didn't lie down, he just sat in his nest and began washing himself with his paws.

There was a small snort from Quickslash; Fireslash didn't pay it any mind and kept washing himself. He closed his eyes and started to think about the journey to gathering. It would be slightly cold, with a nice breeze that would calm his stiff face. They would move with silence, and silenced, the DarkClan cats would-

"So you didn't go," Quickslash's annoying meow broke his thoughts. Fireslash had to keep his jaw clenched to stay quiet, and just kept washing his face. Although, normally it was refreshing, this was forced, and his fur began rubbing the wrong way. Soon, it started to become unpleasant. Fireslash kept acting like he was washing himself, trying to think of something else to do that might keep him mind off the Gathering. _Hunting….talking….. a little walking- _something hit his face that made him whip towards Quickslash in a reflexive look of enragement. Quickslash put on a smirk with one eye open, "Oops." Fireslash stood up and snapped his mouth open and closed to keep himself from saying something and snarled. Quickslash just closed his eye and acted like he was sleeping.

Angry and frustrated, he left the den, tail lashing. There was only one warrior, Lightray, just lying around the camp, as if she was sunning. Curious, he walked over to her.

"Lightray, what are you doing?" She flinched when he started the sentence, and woke.

"Wha-?" she looked at him. He just stared at her. Then she looked angry, "I was absorbing some night!" That was a really strange thing to say.

"What?" he asked puzzled. She stood up, and got right in his face.

"You disturbed me! Now I have to wait until tomorrow!" she turned around and walked away before he could say anything. _That was really weird. _He had never seen Lightray do that before. Now, confused and angry, he just blindly walked from the sheltered camp. He just kept walking, subconsciously aware that the light from the full moon was growing duller and duller, and that the air had become unnaturally colder. Angry thoughts made him ignore all that, however.

_Lightray was angry with me?! How dare she? I was only asking a question! _And then they drifted to Quickslash: _I'm going to kill him. _Fireslash began to think of ways on how to do it.

Suddenly, something of a frozen lightning feeling shot up his spine, making all his fur stand on its end. Startled, he whipped around wondering where he was.

Darkness was all around him, with dark grey tree trunks with transparent black leaves with the Moon trying to break through. His pelt cracked of being watched. _I know exactly where I am. _

He had accidentally strayed to the "Empty Side" the territory. Fireslash took some cover in a dark bush, making him feel a little better about the watching feeling. There was silence all around in the woods. Leaves and trees whipped up in the air from the wind, having him hear only that noise. No crickets or owls stirred.

Silence.

So Fireslash stayed frozen, just watching the forest around him. It was his home, and yet no cat ever wanted to be here.

"Hello," a voice came from behind him. Fireslash hissed and snarled at the same time as he whipped around, claws reflexively coming out at the same time.

A small cat, about the size of an apprentice was standing there, a perfect silhouette shape in the moonlight, with black leaves swishing behind him in the wind. Two golden shining eyes stared back at him as wind made Fireslash shiver.

"W-w-who aaare you..? His mood changed from anger to fear. The cat's head turned to Fireslash's right, as if looked at something, and then looked back at him.

"You came back," he said in a very odd voice. Fireslash didn't say anything, just stayed frozen. _This has got to be Shadowpaw. _But Shadowpaw's voice didn't sound like that.

The cat's head seem to lean in closer, to take a look at him. He sniffed for a second.

"Oh, I don't know you at all. Do you know the Darkness?" Fireslash's heart nearly stopped, and the senior warrior forgot to breathe.

"The Darknesssssssss?" he almost lost control of the phrase, "I know hhh-him," he shuddered. Farther in the distance, a smaller silhouette of another cat, walked within view.

"Who's that?" he asked. The new cat stared at him from nearly worlds away and then slowly walked out of view. The first cat he was talking to turned his head, and then turned back, obviously missing the opportunity.

"Probably one of my friends," he responded calmly, and before Fireslash could say anything else, "My name is Fallen. I have forgotten. I have been forgotten. Tell the Darkness that we are ready for him." Again, Fireslash didn't have a time to react. A loud snapping of wood from his right caught his attention. He whipped again, taking a deep breath of fresh, cool air. There was a weird view of a tree canopy rushing towards him. He stood, frozen in fear, not registering that a tree was about to fall on top of him.

Something hard and solid made the world around him rush, and made his mind move from a frozen coffin, to a chaotic battlefield. _What's going-_ he hit the floor, before he could finish the thought.

"What are you doing here?" Darkstar's angry voice pierced his skull. Fireslash shook himself off and stood up, looking for his leader.

The forest was silent and dark with the wind shaking the leaves.

Terrified, Fireslash raced back in the direction of the camp.

He burst through the entrance screaming a silent call of terror. Only Sharpflower was in the camp, and staring at him like he had grown a second head. He stopped for a second.

She spoke first:

"Where you….. just at the empty side?" she asked, eyes flashed with fear. _What? How could she know that? _He just nodded slowly like he was insane. The fear came across Sharpflower's whole face.

"You met Fallen?" she asked again, worried; Fireslash nodded again, not able to speak. She walked towards him, "I need to talk to you."


End file.
